The Chicago Wolves have a reputation of icing an AHL-veteran laden squad, and focusing on wins rather than developing NHL players... with MacTavish in as a Vancouver hired coach, you'd think the Canucks would get a lot of input into their lineup.

So, how has the lineup looked in the first couple of games (0-1-1)?(Canuck prospects in bold, other Canuck contracts underlined)

On defence, the Canucks have to be happy that Chicago is going mostly with young Canucks prospects, however at forward only 3 prospects are cracking the 12 skaters so far. You'd think that Rodin and Anthony could at least beat out Tim Miller or Michael Davies...

So, you're not going to take away a spot from veterans Haydar, Doell, or Mancari - and Duco, Clackson, and Roussel have the agitator/fighting roles. That leaves Oreskovich, Tim Miller, and Michael Davies - Oreskovich is a big hitting winger that I could see MacTavish liking - but what about Miller and Davies?

From what I can see, Miller is a mediocre scoring winger that was undrafted from the University of Michigan, and similarly Davies was a center signed out of the University of Wisconsin after fairly mediocre scoring seasons other than his senior year where he put up 52 points in 41 games. Neither has lit up the AHL in their few pro games so far...

So, how about it Craig - will we see Rodin and Anthony in the Wolves home opener on Friday night?

excerpt:The Kalamazoo Wings, proud member of the ECHL, two-time defending North Division Champions, reigning Eastern Conference Champions and National Hockey League affiliate to the Vancouver Canucks and New Jersey Devils and American Hockey League’s Albany Devils, announce the Canucks have reassigned forward Steven Anthony and defenseman Taylor Ellington to the K-Wings.

...So Anthony definitely won't be in the Chicago lineup, not sure about Rodin.

If we were talking about the Wolves going out and signing Jason Krog to play over Jordan Schroeder then I think it would be a case of undermining the development of players.. but the only player you listed as "in the Pressbox" who I ever thought had a decent shot to play in the NHL is Rodin, and injuries have seriously derailed his career to this point.

Anyway, players can still develop without being regulars in a league with an 80 game season.. it's possible for a player to frequently get scratched and still play a comparable amount of games to what they might have seen in the NCAA or SEL, except with the Wolves they have the advantages of practicing under a former NHL coach and with professionals who are a big step ahead of any amateur-level leagues.

Of course, you're not suggesting that these players are better served in the NCAA or SEL than they are on the Wolves, you're suggesting they might be better off on a different AHL team (or the same AHL team with a different management philosophy). Which might well be true.. but at the same time are our prospects as a whole helped by playing a team full of kids - many of whom have no NHL future - and struggling badly any more than they are helped by playing on what should be a highly competitive team?

I don't know the answer.. just trying to present the other side of the debate.

So obviously we don't know how much these Wolves will play but assuming we get more or less a full season from about a third of them, and more or less a half season from the rest.. will things really be all that different from last year?

It's hard to tell how it's going to be this season, but they did insert Rodin into the lineup Friday night in place of Tim Miller. Rodin, in particular, needs the North American hockey experience, and I'm not sure practice and pressbox will help him as much as being in the lineup.

Later in the season when Baumgartner, Ebbett, and Sulzer are in Chicago, there will be even more veterans to beat out.